After adjusting for demographic variables such as sex, age, and race (Fig. 3B), we found that serum albumin levels partially mediated the association between dysphagia and delirium in critically ill patients with ischemic stroke (ACME: 0.02, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.03; p < 0.001) (Fig. 3). Here, ALB is linked to delirium.